The enclosed photos taken by Alex Bruchac, show his use of an MTH Cleveland PCC shell, to make a SCALE, 2-rail O-gauge Cleveland PCC car. Alex lives in the Cleveland, Ohio area. (He gave me permission to post these photos).
~~~THE STORY~~~:
The MTH PCC cars sit HIGHER on the track, than would a scale PCC car.
This is mostly because the MTH wheels scale out to about 3' diameter, whereas the real PCCs had a wheel that was only about 2' diameter.
I've been told the MTH PCC bodies are essentially SCALE bodies, EXCEPT that MTH made them too tall on the bottom -- mostly to compensate for the increased height above the track.
Alex Bruchac started with an MTH Cleveland PCC shell, removed the extra plastic from the bottom to make the body a scale height, then constructed a floor (all he bought was the shell), and added 2-rail O-scale running mechanism.
~~~On Jun 9, 2023, at 12:49 PM, Alex Bruchac (the builder) wrote:
I've attached several photos of my MTH PCC car, converted to scale and overhead operation.
I acquired a shell of the Cleveland Transit Paint online and discovered it is almost exact O Scale body -- except for the bottom skirt that's deeper to cover the 3 Rail motor unit.
The overhead photo compares the MTH on the Bottom with a St Petersburg Tram and Car Works examples.
I cut down around the bottom skirt to 5/16 inch all around the body a Dremel, files and sand paper. Be
aware to counter the truck openings as well as the front and rear ends. I wanted to preserve the Cleveland Transit System paint job, so I took extra care in the surgery.
I used some printed circuit board to build a new floor and to mount the scale trucks ordered from Q Car Company.
The factory lighting is retained and the 2 spring trolley pole is from Q Car too. Also the floor mounting studs may
have to be cut down depending on the thickness of floor material you use. The final height of the car should be
11 feet 4-inch rail head to top of the trolley shroud.
Jim you're welcome to share these photos with whom ever you like.
ALEX
Image 1:
Image 2:
Image 3: If you enlarge the photo, you can see the gray-colored area where Alex cut material off the bottom of the shell.
~~~On Jun 9, 2023, at 12:49 PM, Alex Bruchac (the builder) wrote:
"I cut down around the bottom skirt to 5/16 inch all around the body a Dremel, files and sand paper."
Image 4: The overhead photo compares the MTH on the Bottom with a St Petersburg Tram and Car Works examples.
Image 5:
~~~On Jun 9, 2023, at 12:49 PM, Alex Bruchac (the builder) wrote:
"I used some printed circuit board to build a new floor and to mount the scale trucks ordered from Q Car Company.
The factory lighting is retained and the 2 spring trolley pole is from Q Car too."
Image 6:
Image 7: Comparision of MTH car & scale car (after modifications)
